This blog posts a three to five minute homily ideas for Sundays readings.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Cor 5:6-10;
Mk 4:26-34

This
Sunday the readings focus on the mysterious nature and growth of the kingdom of
God. In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel uses the metaphor of a cedar tree
whose tender shoot the Lord takes and plants on a high mountain of Israel. The
Lord cares for the tender shoot so that it puts forth branches and bears fruits
and becomes a large cedar. Hence the Lord speaks through the prophet to
describe what God will in restoring the house of David from insignificant
beginnings and weakness into a noble significant tree. The shoot taken from the
top of the tree will be planted on a high mountain of Israel. There it will
flourish, produce branches, yield fruit, and provide shelter for every winged
animal. It will be a chosen tree, a majestic cedar, known for its strength and
precious wood. This metaphor has a messianic meaning. Behind the use of this
image is a biblical teaching that God chooses the weak and the lowly to make
them strong. These words of the Lord describe a reversal of fortunes that God
is doing. What was once weak and vulnerable will become exalted. That prophecy
is fulfilled in Christ.

In
the Gospel, Jesus uses two short parables to show how the kingdom of God
unfolds mysteriously from very insignificant humble beginnings. In the first
parable, Jesus compares the growth of the kingdom to a seed that is planted by
a farmer who then retires from the scene going about other duties. The growth
of the seed depends on its own potential growth, not on the farmer. The mystery
of that growth belongs to the seed and the soil. The only requirement for the
farmer is vigilance and patience. Similarly, the seed of the kingdom planted by
Jesus Christ grows hidden and mysteriously. That seed is planted in the hearts
of each of us, and unrecognized as it grows. However, we need be open to the
unfolding potential of the seed as it transforms each of us into something
beautiful for God and for the growth of the Church. Because the growth of the
seed is God’s plan and secret, that growth can happen in the most unexpected
ways, times and place. Even the people that come our way in moments we never
planned is part of that growth. The kingdom of God grows in the most unlikely
places: in the poor, in the midst of persecution, in our sickness or that of
our relatives, in our family trial moments; in times of personal struggle or in
doubt. That is the good news. What seems humanly insignificant, failure or
impossible is transformed by God’s power and grace into success, and a wonderful
experience of God’s salvation. The bottom line is that we need to be open to God’s
work; to God’s planting of the seed of his word in our hearts. We must never be
discouraged by what seems to be insignificant or failure for God thrives in
failure and powerlessness.